Category: Randomness

I’ve been working with someone. This is note-worthy, because I have mostly worked alone. Most companies today think that one UX Architect is enough to fix All The Things going wrong in a project. We are UX co-leads on a Big Fat Software Rewrite project. On our first day, a Monday, we were told that […] continue reading »

Ever find yourself freezing in the office? I do. Aircon is brutal. These days, I am sat right in the firing range of not one, but two aircon units, both aimed at my right arm. The one behind me is lethal: when it goes polar, I shiver, wrap myself in my scarf, put my coat […] continue reading »

What makes someone an expert? A wise woman once told me that you are an expert “when others come to you for answers”. Well. It does take a little bit more: such as the ability to answer questions, repeatedly, correctly, memorably. There is a requirement to educate, surprise and spread knowledge and skills. Do that […] continue reading »

Today is UNESCO International Mother Language Day. This year, we celebrate Turkish. My mother language is Greek, and oddly my mother and grandmother both spoke turkish as well. We’re not your typical Greeks. Consider most Europeans, for instance. As a vast majority, most of us are born and raised in a single country. Our education […] continue reading »

In fine style, the new exhibition on Tudor and Stuart fashion has opened at Buckingham Palace. The day before, they invited bloggers for a private tour. Here is a sneak peek at what you’ll find there. […] continue reading »

I have had a lovely day punctuated by utterly shit news: no internet for another two weeks at least. This is starting to impact my life a bit too much. Happily, today the weather was amazing. We had a proper summer day and so i decided to make greek salad. Here is how I made […] continue reading »

I wrote recently about time-boxing, and that got me to thinking that productivity isn’t just about shoving things into a calendar. It’s also about making the most of the time you’ve got, limiting context-switching, and remembering what needs to get done. After quite a bit of pondering, I concluded that my ideal todo list would […] continue reading »

The sun is shining, the sky is the blue of postcards, and yet despair shrouds the country. People starving, begging, stealing. One retired gentleman immolated himself in April 2012, as he did not want to leave debts for his children. He saw no future for himself, his family. He was 77. My father’s age. I […] continue reading »

timeboxing tomatoes The pomodoro “italian for tomato” technique had me giggling for a bit, before I read on – thank you wikipedia :Pomodoro technique – and found out it was a desperate student cramming for exams who decided to focus his attention using a tomato-shaped kitchen timer. “Let the first stone be cast…”. So we’ve […] continue reading »

So last night i needed to get to soho, and thanks to the trusty CityMapper app, i knew i could grab a bus in 15min from waterloo bridge. From work to the stop, it’s less than a 5min walk, so I didn’t run. Except that when i got to the stop… Something happened. Which resulted […] continue reading »

I love stories. And television series are lovely little drip-fed stories with the same characters, new gags, amusing plot twists, that go on and on for 12 hours each season… but are released on an arbitrary weekly schedule and time! They’re the television equivalent of Harry Potter, Kushiel’s Dart triple-trilogy, the classic The Three Musketeers […] continue reading »

This is a short compilation of what I have been up to, on twitter, courtesy of the vizify team. I’ve had a vizify bio for a long time now, and for new year’s, they’ve added in the “year on twitter” page to it. Turns out that, predictably, my post popular topic was #365, thanks to […] continue reading »

So I’ve decided that I like writing quite a lot, and i should have a platform for storing said writings. My confabulations and findings will henceforth reside on exintaris.com, with varied amounts of verbosity and pedantic prose. You aren’t, by any means, requested or expected to read any of these meanderings. If you do, however, […] continue reading »

I got a recommendation from a colleague for OUTLET, for professional (or rather… LGB) flatshares, where I found an excellent housing prospect! But OUTLET requires a £7.50 subscription to let you contact the advertiser. (EEEP!) So… I used part of the description text to google with, and found the same advert on SpareRoom!! I contacted […] continue reading »

So I’m looking to move back to London, and more actively since the announcement of the futher rise of train fares in 2013. I already pay £280/month for my commute. If I could find a flat in zone two, that cost would halve. Of course living in London costs more, but if my rent+council tax […] continue reading »